Talking down Britain....

I am at a loss to understand why our politicians and the media are constantly talking-down Britain; almost every day we hear gloomy statements about the economy, ‘triple-dip’ recession, the debt burden, but little that is positive, and in any case  OBR and ONS numbers are almost always wrong because they are published straight out of the egg.

 

Growth, we are told, is almost non-existent. But this in itself only tell part of the story.

 

Sure, construction is markedly down on 2011, partly due to Osborn’s bad decision to cut capital spending (which he only marginally adjusted in his non-budget). New house building might be stimulated by the ‘mortgage guarantee’ crust that little George tossed at the hoi polloi, although it is more likely to encourage reckless borrowing and a new housing bubble.

 

North Sea oil and gas is down, largely because predatory taxing by Brown (and not rectified by Osborn) has been a major disincentive to investment. But – and I have not seen this reported anywhere -  the industry now has the technology to extract 90% of the known reserves whereas hitherto 60% was the best that could be expected.

 

Manufacturing overall has been something of a disappointment, but capital equipment is up by no less than 21% since the 2009 low, and vehicle manufacturing is up by a staggering 46%.

 

Unemployment is the lowest in the EU area, and despite large cuts in the public sector, there are more people in work than ever before. An emerging issue is a good rate of growth in high-skill sectors. Our poor education system is unlikely to supply the demand for skilled people, which means immigration. If Mrs May’s addlepated immigration policy is any guide, we have a problem.

 

Overall, there is a good rate of growth in 75% of the economy.

 

But the underlying problem is that we have the worst Government since – well – the last one!